 AsiaFinest's
Interview with Steph Song
AsiaFinest was able to get an interview with the beautiful and talented
Steph Song. This interview was conducted on 03/17/2006. Check it out!
 AF:
Why did you get into acting?
Steph: When I was very young I watched
‘ Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory’ – the first one
with Gene Wilder- and in this film there was a river made of chocolate
and the trees were made of candy and you could drink a soda and fly and
then burp yourself down. And I thought now that’s where I want to
live! In a place where you can create any kind of world you would like
to live in. I could live many lives instead of just one and experience
so many different things. I was hooked on the idea of all those possibilities.
Plus I still find that sitting there in the dark in a movie theatre and
the title credits start rolling is so exciting for me. Something about
the anticipation of being told a good story still fills me with such child
like glee. To be part of that storytelling process is the basis for why
I initially wanted to act.
AF: What was your most favorite project
or work to this date?
Steph: I have a fairly long and extensive
list of points on which to determine the projects that have been my most
memorable; the story, the character I played, the director, the cast,
the crew, the sense of collaboration. Each project has different aspects
that I have loved, so I’m hard pressed to pick one or even a few.
I guess if it comes down to the work - then my most favorite projects
are the ones that have challenged and stretched me the most as an actress.
The roles in which I was given the time to fully occupy the character
as much as I’m able to.
Having said that – my favorite project is also whichever project
that I am currently working on. I make it my favourite. That is my politically
correct answer. Ha ha.
AF: What's the most embarrassing moment
in your life?
Steph: I make an ass out of myself
on a daily basis but fortunately for me I get paid to do it. I don’t
embarrass easily anymore. When you’re on set and acting a scene where
you’re crying or baring your soul or doing something else that is
emotionally taxing in front of a whole roomful of strangers then you tend
to drop inhibitions pretty fast.
AF: In what way has the Internet changed
your life?
Steph: I’ve always been a little
bit suspicious of technology. I only got my first computer – a Mac
laptop a few months ago- and that was only because I was starting to feel
guilty about the amount of paper it took to print out a script.
I love the ease of researching anything on the internet. I find that my
computer is still used primarily for email correspondence and watching
movies on the long lonely flights across the pacific.
AF: For the female visitors of AsiaFinest:
How do you keep in shape?
Steph: It’s a constant battle.
Every actress you’ll ever meet is hungry. Probably explains why we’re
all in such bad moods all the time. Any actress who says that they’re
naturally thin and can eat whatever she wants is full of shit. Of course
that could just be my crabbiness at being hungry coming out.
AF: Any advice or tips for girls who
are thinking of becoming actress?
Steph: Be prepared to work hard. Unless
it’s truly your life’s calling I’d say avoid it like the
plague. There’s better ways of both making money and having fun.
It’s 98% hard work and 2% perks. And even the 2% perks most times
ain’t all it cracks up to be.
If you absolutely MUST act…then get a good agent. That’s half
the battle won if you have a good support network behind you. Did I say
be prepared to work hard?
AF: Did your parents support your
decision to act?
Steph: Not initially. Can’t say
I blame them either. They knew the hardship of an actor’s life and
didn’t want that for me. Plus they were academics themselves, my
mom has a Masters degree in political science and my dad a PhD in genetics,
so needless to say they had hoped I’d continue past high school and
get a few degrees. So- I studied and got my 2 degrees
- journalism and nursing, before I ventured off to re immerse myself in
thespianism.
Having said that- I never encountered opposition from them when I told
them my life direction, I think all parents wish happiness for their children.
When my folks realized that I could actually make quite a nice living
in showbusiness they relaxed a bit more. I think they secretly feared
I would be living on their couch for all their remaining years. They remain
keenly interested in my projects and always enjoy a good giggle at my
expense watching my films.
AF: What's the hardest part about
being an actress?
Steph: Hmmm. Are you looking for sordid
casting couch stories from me? I haven’t got any. That probably means
I’m low on the sexy factor.
There’s more business to it than art on most days. The auditioning
process can be quite brutal and then once you’re actually working
on a project there’s no guarantee that the director or the producers
may want to take risks with your character and try different ways of doing
things.
Oh yeah- there’s a lot of waiting around on set. I’ve always
said that I get paid to wait, I act for free. Overall though- if I didn’t
like it. I wouldn’t do it. The best part of it is the energy you
feel when you walk on to set for the first day of shoot and the collaboration
between your fellow actors, the director and the writers to create a story.
When everyone is switched on and in sync and all the actors are right
there next to you connecting with both you and the material there truly
isn’t a better feeling in the world. It’s unexplainable, it’s
like I’m in a zone and I cease to exist just for that moment as Steph
Song and I’m occupying my character’s mindset and time and space
and reacting as the character would independently of myself.
Sounds kinda nutty doesn’t it? I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
AF: Yes it does sound a bit mad. Where
would you be today if you weren't an actress?
Steph: It seems that every interview
of some hot young actor/actress when asked what they would be doing if
they were not acting they all seem to say that they’d want to be
a marine biologist. Why is that? I don’t understand. Ok ask me again.
AF: Alright Steph, Where would you
be today if you weren’t an actress?
Steph: I’d be a marine biologist!
Sorry, I just wanted to see how I’d feel after saying that.
AF: And how did it make you feel?
Steph: It felt kinda….. vacuous,
but in a cute, idealistic way. Naaah. I’d never choose to be a marine
biologist. I have too big a fear of open water, all those icky things
down there in the dark… ewww!
Having said that - I DO think I would like to be working on some kind
of environmental cause. At the start of my film and television career
I hosted a program for the National Geographic Channel called ‘Earth
Pulse’. It highlighted pressing environmental issues such as green
house gas emissions, extinction of species (both plant and animal), recycling
and in particular methods of living sustainably on the planet without
depleting earth’s natural resources. I would like to work on something
like that again but perhaps behind the camera this time. The greenie/crusty
hippie in me demands it!
AF: Any goals that you want to achieve
but still haven't?
Steph: See the above answer. Oh yeah
and I just recently tried pole dancing. I was at an event and there were
instructors in the art of pole dancing giving little five minute lessons.
I wouldn’t mind mastering that. Apart from giving you a super ab
section and a good work out in core strength, there ain’t nothing
sexier than doing a slow strip tease for your man. Meeeeoooow!
AF: What's your favorite movie(s)
and why? Seen any good or bad movies lately?
Steph: I have soooo many movies I
count as favorites even if some of them I’ve viewed only once. I
guess I can’t stand the idea of watching them again only because
it may dilute the magic that I originally felt in my first viewing. Is
that weird?
There’s so many Asian movies that I really love, all of Zhang Yimou’s
movies leave me breathless with the stunning, irreplaceable Gong
Li. Her performances move me. Wong Kar Wai’s movies are like
a visual feast, all that beautiful cinematography, I soak it all in with
my mouth hanging open in amazement. Just recently I watched Ang Lee’s
‘Brokeback Mountain’. Every frame was like a gorgeous painting.
From Singapore I really liked ‘ Eating Air’.
I love the generational movies like I love the generational authors. I
think Douglas Coupland and Chuck Palahniuk are two authors whose work
resonates a chord. They do for my generation what ‘The Graduate’
was for it’s times. I think ‘Fight Club’ and more recently
“Everything’s Gone Green”, one of my movies, are very now
and of it’s time. I watch a lot of Hollywood movies, you kind of
have to just to keep in touch with what’s happening out there. But
they’re mostly all dumb schlock.
AF: What genre of music and which
artist are you listening to now?
Steph: That’s another depending
on the mood question. Lemme check what was on today’s playlist….
John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone ‘Love Me’, Queen,
Ray Charles, The Pixies… amongst many others.
AF: Any upcoming projects that we
should look out for?
Steph: Dragon Boys, a CBC mini series
and “Everything’s Gone Green’ are out this fall and currently
I’m working on a film with Jet Li. I play
his love interest. I’m a newcomer to this industry and was so star
struck that I was literally speechless when I first met him. He probably
thought I was a moron.
AF: Yep, he probably did.
Steph: But dude! It’s Jet
Li!
Steph
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